DOI: 10.36347/sasjs

Pages: 61-70

In the present study surveillance for the development of DVT in patients undergoing general surgery was carried out, to prospectively document the risk of development of DVT in general surgical procedures, and to identify subgroups of patients and surgeries, in which there is a higher risk of development of DVT, and correlate the same with other associated risk factors. Two hundred cases undergoing general surgical procedures under spinal or general anaesthesia, between February 2013 to July 2015, wherein the duration of surgery was more than an hour, were selected, after excluding those in whom DVT was detected preoperatively, and patients on anti-coagulant therapy. Serial calf and thigh circumference were measured at fixed levels for both limbs along with Duplex scan surveillance. The study group consisted of 102 males and 98 females. Post-operative DVT was detected on Duplex scan in 3 patients (1.5%). Two of these patients with DVT had clinically recognizable signs, and 2 of these 3 patients were males. The patients with previous history of DVT (one case) and those on oral contraceptives (six cases) did not develop DVT. Malignancy was present in 26 of the 200 patients in the study, and one of them developed DVT. Among the 3 patients who underwent splenectomy, one developed DVT. Among the 19 patients operated under SA, none developed DVT.